Lies Secrecy and Violence : Australia’s Shameful Refugee Policy

The violent bashing of asylum seekers which has resulted in the death of a young Iranian man has totally changed the world’s perceptions of the Australian Government’s treatment of refugees and embarrassed decent Australians.

The Abbott Government has no alternative to shutting its third world torture camps for refugees. The policy of making an example of and terrifying refugees, to deter would be asylum seekers from travelling to Australia to seek asylum, has collapsed under the weight of lies, secrecy and violence.

The conservative Coalition Government and the previous Labor government have based the legitimacy of their refugee program on the camps on Nauru and on Manus Island being a safe haven for asylum seekers while they wait for orderly processing.

In reality the camps are a hell on earth for refugees seeking asylum. The people sent to the camps are immediately demoralized by being told that because they have traveled by boat they will be disqualified from getting asylum in Australia. The camps are designed to be a harsh place to live and totally unsuitable for asylum seekers who are unwell and for women and children.

Initially the Minister tried to blame the victims of violence by saying they had absconded from the safety of the prison camp, but despite the strict secrecy surrounding the camp the true story has emerged that people with weapons came into the camp and bashed and shot refugees and stole their belongings.

Whatever spin the immigration Minister uses to rationalize his psychological and physical punishment of refugees and his denial of responsibility , he cannot get past the fact that under international rules he is ultimately responsible for the safety and well being of refugees he has detained, even if he has shipped them to another country.

Minister Morrison has failed in his duty, he cannot protect the people under his care while they are under another country’s jurisdiction. He should be stood down and his unsafe refugee program should be closed down immediately.

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3 Comments:

How do you know the camps are hell on earth.? They might be quite comfortable for these people compared with what they came from. I know people who have done the right thing and waited for years in camps near their countries of origin, and they certainly were not fed or given anything much at all other than a yes to staying until the war was ended or countries like Australia were willing to take them. I think you are a person with a closed and angry mind who just likes to attack. Your language is quite nasty and you are no better than the people you criticise. Try relaxing a bit buddy. Do you take many of these people in to your own home and help them adjust to this new place they so long to go to? This would be your next best option if you do not like the current system and have the heart you so vehemently think you have.

“you” is actually “we” + why not have a look at recent reports in the public domain from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty…hey, you could even talk to survivors yourself and burst that nasty fascist bubble of yours…then again, maybe not…

You mean like being locked up without trial and bashed by guards even killed is relatively comfortable. I am angry that my Government is behaving like a fascist regime in that they are scapegoating people who need help. Furthermore I have helped refugees as a volunteer when the were in Australia. I took families into my home and out for picnics to introduce them to the Australian way of life.
Now they are held in offshore stalags from which they do not allow access to or even information from these places. Governments like this are hiding brutality and mistreatment and deserve heavy censure for their undemocratic and cruel behaviour.
As for refugees not being given food or shelter in nearby countries to their own you are talking nonsense. In fact the UNHCR camps do provide assistance, food and shelter while some unofficial camps are unable to provide support because in nearby countries they have millions of refugees and do not have the resources to cope, yet they still do what they can which is better than we are these days. There are an estimated 41 million refugees that are not registered with the UN and countries like Pakistan have more than 2 million refugees. As a country that helped cause millions of these refugees we should take some responsibility for aiding them.